When is Airbnb (or VRBO) A Good Deal? Looking in San Diego.

[+ Lucky]

Recently I applied for and received the Capitol One Venture X credit card. Among its benefits are a $200 credit for an Airbnb or VRBO rental, and a $300 travel credit when travel is booked through their travel desk.

So I searched for properties in San Diego for Gay Pride Weekend, perhaps now known as LBGTQIA Weekend. I grant you that San Diego in July is an attractive and popular location, especially given the heat here.

My search did not result in any deals appealing to me. Airbnb has so many fees added to the list price, that the list price is a joke. Hotels are competitive, if not cheaper And hotels have housecleaning...at least they used to!

Sad to say, using the Capitol One travel desk for hotels was not so appealing either, as I can find better prices on my own. That $300 credit seems built into the prices. Just my opinion now.

I already have a hotel booked for free with my points on another card. One night of it, that is.

Anyone here have preferences when traveling to San Diego?

Edited March 24, 2022 by Lucky
it's either, not weither!

[KeepItReal]

10 hours ago, Lucky said:

Recently I applied for and received the Capitol One Venture X credit card. Among its benefits are a $200 credit for an Airbnb or VRBO rental, and a $300 travel credit when travel is booked through their travel desk.

So I searched for properties in San Diego for Gay Pride Weekend, perhaps now known as LBGTQIA Weekend. I grant you that San Diego in July is an attractive and popular location, especially given the heat here.

My search did not result in any deals appealing to me. Airbnb has so many fees added to the list price, that the list price is a joke. Hotels are competitive, if not cheaper And hotels have housecleaning...at least they used to!

Sad to say, using the Capitol One travel desk for hotels was not so appealing either, as I can find better prices on my own. That $300 credit seems built into the prices. Just my opinion now.

I already have a hotel booked for free with my points on another card. One night of it, that is.

Anyone here have preferences when traveling to San Diego?

I have had the card for a couple of months - their travel site is very clunky.  I couldn't figure out how to search for business class seats and went back to Orbitz. 🤷‍♂️  If you want to get away from all the festivities for a bit, Point Loma is one of my favorite getaway spots to enjoy the ocean. The rocks overlooking the ocean makes for quite a scene. 

[SirBillybob]

To answer when, an Airbnb good deal is usually when a group staying in it splits the price at any time and everyone pays a relatively small amount, not when a single guest books during an event or peak holiday period. For example my go-to in Rio de Janeiro is 6 times the usual amount during Christmas/NY and Carnival and it is basically assumed that many more occupants will be crashing there, not a big party bash in the unit, but for facilities and sleep. It is a given that this is the way to bring more visitors in to the city to uptick business for the tourism industry overall. My sense is that there is an assumption that more guests will be crowded into a unit for basic use needs during Pride, even if the no-party rule is not broken, and a host has less control over this volume of people compared to a hotel that can assess and enforce compliance with the registered list of occupants. You can also see from San Diego listings that prices are higher for the week July11-18 compared to lower demand periods.